The following is a work of fiction.
Charlotte kept her camera rolling. She was livestreaming and the comments came at lightening speeds. Her ten million subscribers demanded cheap thrills from creepy locations on weekly basis. Her popularity skyrocketed since the pandemic. As long as peoples’ curiosities for the paranormal persisted, she would always be in a job she thought. Her phone buzzed every few seconds notifying her of the donations from fans and brands. She made thirty thousand dollars in just under three hours. Two major fashion houses sponsored tonight’s video. She was known online as “the hottest ghost hunter on the internet”. The twenty-one year old found this fame and fortune only a year and a half ago, when she lost her job as a hairdresser which she hated. As usual, Charlotte lost the track of time exploring the this abandoned mansion, recommended by like a million subscribers. It was a great find.
She decided to take a break for a moment. She felt like she was walking for hours. The house mansion was rated as the most haunted house in the state. She couldn’t tell what time it was. It must have been just after five in the afternoon when she entered the house. Her smart watch was stuck on twelve midnight. She set up a camera on a tripod and walked around with her phone camera. Two semesters at film school armed her with enough skills to make interesting footages. Increasingly, Charlotte noticed that something wasn’t quite right. She stopped to look out the window of this seemingly endless hallway. She was sure, when she drove up the driveway that the house wasn’t this big. Charlotte couldn’t see the end of this hallway. She could hear murmurs coming from the rooms. Things were starting to get real for the ghost hunter. Another creepy thing she noticed was the lack of stars in the sky. There was not a cloud in the dark sky but not one twinkling spot was to be scene.
The camera on the tripod tracked her movement.
Charlotte was sure that she could hear voices coming from the rooms. She was starting to get a little scared. She looked at her phone for any comments. It was as if all of her fans logged off. Not one comment or like notification came. She figured the internet connection went out for a minute. She put her head against a door. She could hear a voice of a young girl come through the old style ornate door. Charlotte tried to make out what the voice was saying. She turned the doorknob. It wasn’t locked. She opened the door slowly. The cliched squeak didn’t help, at all. She pointed her phone camera on a gimbal inside and scanned around. For a room that hasn’t been touched in decades, it appeared to be lived in. the retro style wall paper, carpet and furniture all looked new to her. She cautiously entered pointing her camera. The first thing she noticed was the sun shining through the window. She quickly turned back to look out to the hallway. It was pitch black except for the moonlight shining from outside from the moon that she couldn’t see. The only sound was the buzzing of the camera on the tripod following her.
Something was definitely not right. She walked over to the large window where the warm morning light pierced through the laced curtains. She parted the curtains. It was the very driveway and the front lawn. She saw her car parked few metres from the front door. She thought she was hallucinating from over working. She has been up few nights in a row editing and brain storming the next project.
Suddenly, she felt someone standing behind her. Charlotte quickly turned around. she couldn’t believe who she was seeing. It was Maddie, her twin sister who passed away when she was six. Maddie was still her sweet six year old self in her favourite dress. Charlotte hugged her without hesitation. “Maddie! I missed you so much!” Charlotte said as tears came trickling down her cheeks. “Maddie! Mum will be thrilled to see you!” Little Maddie just looked at her without saying anything. Charlotte took a firm hold of Maddie’s hand and exited the room. At that exact moment, Maddie disappeared. Charlotte turned back to see a pitch black room with a stench of mould. She took out her flash light and looked inside. It appeared to be discoloured and decaying. Charlotte has had enough and decided to get out.
She quickly walked down the stairs to the front door, only to find more endless, dark hallway. Something was very wrong. Her heart pounded like a hammer. The camera on the tripod kept on following Charlotte’s every movement. She took a moment to take a breath. She tried to rationalise. Maybe she was dreaming she thought. She prayed to god that she would wake up ay any moment. A car drove up the driveway. She thanked the lord that everything will be alright. She took out her flashlight and pointed it at the car. It slowed down but didn’t seem to noticed anything. Charlotte then used the flashlight to break the window. Again, the car didn’t seem to notice her. it eventually came to a stop, and someone exited. It was herself. Charlotte felt like passing out.
Charlotte was excited to finally make content in the internet’s most popular haunted house. This place was booked out for over a year but she was able to pull some strings and jump the queue. She slowly approached the front door. It had the appearance of a house that would’ve been beautiful once. People warned her to tread carefully as some explorers were lost in the house or lost their mind. As she approached the house, a window from the first floor shattered as if someone broke it from the inside.